


First Days

by JuliaM (seshat0120)



Category: The Magnificent Seven (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-16
Updated: 2019-11-16
Packaged: 2021-02-07 09:01:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21455452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seshat0120/pseuds/JuliaM
Summary: It's Ezra's first day back in the office after a long absence and a surprise awaits.
Kudos: 36





	First Days

First days back when you’d only been gone for a week or two on vacation could be difficult. Everyone wanted to stop you and ask how your vacation was. Getting through all the emails waiting for you in your inbox could take seemingly forever. If you were lucky, you were back in the swing of things around about the time the day ended.

First days back after you’d been gone for a couple of months because you’d nearly been killed in a car accident were a whole different beast. More people than would ask how a vacation went would stop you to ask how you were feeling; mention how good you looked – or sometimes the opposite; ask if it were too early for you to be back; or just say it was good to see you back. Fortunately, since IT would turn off your email box for the time you were out, there generally wasn’t a build up of email to wade thought. By the end of that first week back it would finally feel like you were back in the swing of things.

Walking into the office this crisp and cold late January morning, Ezra was about to experience the second of those two kinds of first days back. It was the first time he’d been in the Denver Federal Building since early October.

The seven men had been celebrating the end of a successful case at the Saloon. Despite enjoying the company of this teammates, Ezra had begged off early, ready to finally get a night’s sleep in his bed after the last three weeks undercover. He’d been blocks from his home when a car sped through a red light and hit him broadside. Ezra’s beloved Jag had been totaled and he’d been left clinging to life. The driver, drunk as they’d later learned, had walked away without a scratch.

Ezra spent the first week after the accident in a medically induced coma. He’d suffered a skull fracture as well as fractures to his left femur just below his hip, right ankle, left humerus just above the elbow, dislocation of his left shoulder (again), a lacerated spleen, and an assortment of cuts and contusions. For the first 72 hours, the doctors hadn’t been sure he’d pull through.

But pull through he had. There had been surgeries to repair the fractures and dislocations and he was positive he’d never go through a metal detector again without setting it off because of the hardware used to repair the broken bones. The loss of his spleen meant he’d have to be more diligent with his health. He’d spent Thanksgiving in the hospital and Christmas in a rehabilitation center, but he was finally free of the clutches of the medical profession now. He’d still need a bit therapy but, finally, there were no more casts or braces although he still needed the assistance of a cane when walking long distances. He was finally free, though, to resume work, to drive, and to (mostly) live his normal life.

It hadn’t been a hardship not having a car when he was first discharged from the rehab since he wasn’t allowed to drive. His teammates had made themselves available to drive him anywhere he needed to go whether it was a doctor’s appointment, grocery shopping, or driving aimlessly when he felt closed in.

The six men had been with him every step of the way since the accident. To his surprise, his mother had also been a constant fixture up until he’d been released from the rehab two weeks ago. At that point, he’d insisted it was time for her to return to New York and her new husband.

Three months previous she’d married Michael Halden, a New York financier, after a whirlwind courtship. Halden had been in Denver off and on as his business allowed during Ezra’s recovery and Ezra had genuinely liked the man. There was no doubt he knew exactly what Maude was. Despite that, he was completely in love and besotted with her. Although Halden was more than able to keep Maude in the life she was accustomed to, this time it seemed that she also cared about and was in love with him. Ezra hoped this meant she’d be happy and finally settle down.

He’d been at his desk for two hours when one of the administrative assistants approached him. “Agent Standish, it’s so good to see you back.”

He looked up from the file he’d been reading and smiled in her direction. “Thank you, Jenna. It’s good to be back.” He gestured to the pile of files on his desk. “Even if it does mean being stuck behind a desk for now and going through all of these. Is there something I can help you with?”

Jenna held out a small box to him. “A courier just delivered this and asked that it be given to you as soon as possible.”

Ezra took the box and looked at it quizzically wondering who could have known he’d be back today. “Thank you.”

After Jenna walked away, he looked at the box from all angles. It was a plain brown box about six inches by four inches. There was no return address on it and nothing to indicate who it was from. Like all packages delivered to the Federal building, he knew it would have been screened before it made it to him, but he knew that still couldn’t rule out everything. Cautiously, he slit the tape holding it closed and opened it. Inside was another smaller box wrapped in birthday wrap with a card underneath it.

He took out the card and cautiously opened it. As soon as he saw the handwriting and recognized it as Maude’s he relaxed. He read her missive then set the card aside and pulled the wrapping off the box. When he saw what was inside, he pulled in a quick breath. “Oh lord, she didn’t,” he said.

“Who didn’t?” Vin asked eyeing the box Ezra was holding. As soon as Jenna brought the package to his desk, it had garnered the attention of the other six.

“My mother,” Ezra explained as he held the card out to JD who’d approached his desk.

“I thought your birthday wasn’t for two weeks,” JD said as he took the card.

“It’s not.” Ezra waved at him to go ahead and read the card.

Shrugging, JD opened the card and began to read. “Bean,” he started then stopped and looked at Ezra with raised eyebrows as he tried to hold back a chuckle.

Ezra started to turn red at the nickname and turned hard eyes on JD daring him to laugh. “Before I was born, my parents referred to me as Bean since they didn’t know if I was a boy or a girl. It stuck as a nickname even after I was born,” he offered in explanation. He didn’t add that after his father’s death, his mother had stopped using the name. It was only after the bout of appendicitis he’s suffered early last year that she’d started to occasionally use it again.

“Sorry,” JD mumbled not wanting to offend his friend then started to read the card again. “Bean, your birthday may not be for two weeks but that doesn’t mean you can’t get an early birthday present. Use it in good health and remember, you’re always going to be my Darlin’ Baby Boy. All my love – Mama. PS: You’ll have to go to the garage to collect your gift. Collect your gift?” he questioned as he handed the card back. “What’s that mean?”

Ezra turned the box so that JD and the others who gathered around his desk could see the contents. Nestled on a bed of cotton was a key fob with Jaguar emblazoned on the size.

Nathan let out a low whistle. “Maude’s got good taste in birthday gifts.”

“Yes,” Ezra said dryly remembering the difficulties he’d encountered the last time a gift from Maude had been emblazoned with Jaguar. He stood up and pulled on his coat and grabbed his cane. “Let’s go see what destruction Hurricane Maude has left in her path.”

Grabbing coats, the other six men followed Ezra out of the office and down to the garage. As they neared his usual parking spot, he abruptly stopped walking and stared open mouthed. In his parking spot was a shiny black 2019 Jaguar F-type coupe. It was the exact model he’d been looking at on-line with the knowledge that he wouldn’t be able to afford it on his ATF salary.

“Surprise, Darlin’” he heard from behind and whirled around to see his mother and her husband approaching him. As she neared him, she gently tapped him under the chin closing his mouth. “You look like you’re trying to catch flies,” she told him as she pulled him into a hug.

“Mother? What?” he asked gesturing at the car when she released him.

“Michael and I are leaving tomorrow. He needs to take care of some business in London and we won’t be here for your birthday so we decided to give you your gift a little bit early so we could be here when you got it.”

“Happy birthday,” Michael said as leaned forward to shake Ezra’s hand.

“Thank you,” Ezra responded as he absently shook Michael’s hand. He gestured at the car again. “But how…why…how?”

As Ezra sputtered and stammered, Buck lightly elbowed Josiah in the ribs. “Don’t you just love when he’s at a loss for words,” he chuckled.

Having overheard, Ezra shot Buck a glare then turned back to his mother.

“I wanted to get you something nice for your birthday,” Maude began before Ezra could start questioning again.

“If this is nice,” Vin said quietly to Chris, “I wonder what average is.”

Maude threw an exasperated look in Vin’s direction then continued. “You couldn’t possibly afford a car like this on your salary. Michael and I just wanted to do something extra special for you. Tell me you like it.”

“I do, Mother. I do. I just can’t figure out…how did you get it in here with security and all.”

“Oh that,” Maude said with a wave of her hand as if it were nothing. “I called Mr. Larabee and he said he’d help with that.”

“You knew about this,” Ezra asked pinning Chris with a look.

“Actually,” Chris said and indicated the others, “We all knew about it.”

Ezra shook his head slowly in wonder not only that, for the second time, his mother had bought him an expensive luxury automobile for his birthday but all his teammates – no, his friends – had also known about it. And he knew that, unlike that last time in Atlanta, no one would look askance at him. There wouldn’t be any rumors. There wouldn’t be any suspicions. “Thank you, Mama,” he said softly as he pulled her into a hug.

When he released her, Maude took a quick breath to reclaim her composure. “Well, climb in,” she said with a smile.

Michael quickly stepped forward and started explaining to Ezra how the keyless entry worked. If the fob was within approximately three feet, all he had to do was operate the locked door handle and the Jag would automatically unlock.

Ezra was soon ensconced in the leather seat gripping the steering wheel. He looked like a kid who just been given everything he wanted for Christmas and then some.

“Who gets the first ride,” JD asked.

Ezra looked to where everyone was gathered just outside the car. “I think we can all agree Mother should be the first one.”

“I was just waiting for you to ask, Darlin’” Maude said then got in the car.

Once she was settled, Ezra started the car and pulled out of the parking space. As he started to drive away, Chris called out, “No speeding, you two.”

As he drove out of the parking garage, Ezra could only think that as far as first days back went, this one had definitely been one for the record books.


End file.
